Mass Effect: The Rogue
by GodzillaMaster
Summary: What if Commander Shepard discovered a Collector on Horizon that's still alive? How would he and the rest of the Normandy team react towards it when it joins the Normandy team? Rated M to be safe.
1. Prologue

Prologue

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><p>Horizon<p>

Commander John Shepard sighs as he and Garrus look for Mordin; the Salarian doctor wandered off moments after his ex-girlfriend accused him of being a traitor. Although he still had feelings for her, being dead for two years obviously meant that they were no longer in a relationship. After a few more minutes of searching, the two manage to find Mordin, kneeling over the body of a Collector.

"Mordin, what are you doing? Let's go."

The Salarian, although having acknowledged Shepard talking to him, is too busy looking over the Collector to turn to Shepard.

"Just a moment, Shepard; apparently this Collectors isn't dead."

Garrus, upon hearing what the doctor said, immediately aims his assault rifle at the alien Mordin was studying, "Well then let's do this colony a favor and finish the job?"

"Now just a minute Garrus; think about it. No one has ever had the chance to study a Collector, let alone a live one. If we can take it to Cerberus, we can find out more about them such as weaknesses, even the location of its home planet with the right methods.

For the second time in the past five minutes, the commander sighs again. As much as he despised the idea of giving a group as despicable as Cerberus direct access to anything they could use against the rest of the galaxy, Shepard knew that they were the only group that could get as much information out of it as quickly as possible. He turns to Mordin, "I know I'm going to regret doing this, but do it. And while we're at it, let's gather the bodies of these Guardians, see if we can get anything useful from their shield tech."

Mordin nods and gets to work, after some time they load the disabled Collector onto the shuttle along with several bodies.

The shuttle door closes, and Garrus glances at the still living Collector before turning to the commander.

"I sure hope you know what you're doing, Shepard."

"I know, Garrus, and I just hope I'm not going to regret this."

The two look at the Collector one last time as the shuttle takes off.

* * *

><p>I don't own Mass Effect, that goes to Bioware.<p>

And to any true Mass Effect fans, I apologize in advance if I don't do the characters correctly. I got into the series in late February-early March this year, so I don't exactly know everything about them.

Anyway, read and review, I'll try to update as soon as I possibly could.


	2. Chapter 1: Reprogramming

Chapter 1: Reprogramming

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><p>REBOOTING...<p>

REBOOTING COMPLETE

CD117649

ALIGNMENT: HARBINGER

ALERT: CONNECTION TO HARBINGER LOST

REESTABLISHING CONNECTION

ERROR: UNABLE TO CONNECT TO PRIMARY BASE

ERROR: UNABLE TO CONNECT TO SECONDARY BASES

USING HARBINGER CONTROL MODULE TO ESTABLISH CONNECTION

ERROR: HARBINGER CONTROL MODULE NOT RESPONDING - REBOOTING

WARNING: HARBINGER CONTROL MODULE SEVERELY DAMAGED

REBOOT IN PROGRESS

CONNECTION WILL BE ESTABLISHED IN 1 MONTH 25 DAYS 12 HOURS AND 30 MINUTES

WARNING

FOREIGN INTRUSION DETECTED

EMERGENCY SHUTDOWN IN PROGRESS

...

REBOOTING COMPLETE

REPROGRAMMING COMPLETE

CD117649

ALIGNMENT: COMMANDER SHEPARD

NEW OBJECTIVE DETECTED: AIDE COMMANDER SHEPARD IN STOPPING COLLECTOR RACE

REBOOTING HARBINGER CONTROL MODULE

REBOOTING WILL BE COMPLETE IN 1 MONTH 25 DAYS 12 HOURS AND 28 MINUTES

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><p>Commander Shepard has just arrived back on the Normandy and was on the way to the engineering deck to chat with the newest crewmember, and his closest friend, Tali'Zorah vas Neema, when Joker suddenly calls out on the announcement systems.<p>

Joker: Oh Shepard, you're getting a message from the Illusive Man. Better go check it out.

Shepard grumbles in annoyance; as much as he wanted to just ignore it and go talk to Tali, he knew that the Illusive Man wouldn't call if he didn't have anything important to say. With a sigh, he heads to the communications room.

Shepard's hologram materializes in the room in front of the Illusive Man, who, unsurprisingly, is sitting down with a cigarette in his hands.

"Shepard, how'd the mission to recruit the quarian go?"

Although rather angered and annoyed about how the Illusive Man would refer to his best friend, Shepard manages to keep his cool and responds, "The mission to recruit Tali went fine. Now, enough with the small talk, we both know you have no interest in that right now."

"Quite right, Shepard. Do you remember that one Collector that you sent for us to study?"

"What about it?"

"After extensive studying, we're sending it to you."

Alarm bells immediately go off in Shepard's mind, "Are you serious? Do you know what kind of carnage a living Collector could have on the ship?"

The Illusive Man simply breathes out a small cloud of smoke from his cigarette, "I assure you, we've done as much reprogramming on its cybernetics as we were able to. And before you say anything, no, we programmed it to be loyal exclusively to you. Cerberus has spent too much on bringing you back to simply betray you."

Shepard sighs, "Fine, it'll be a part of the crew. When can I expect it to be arriving?"

"It should be arriving shortly, Shepard. And I assure you that it'll be a valuable asset to your mission."

"Whatever you say."

* * *

><p>As much as I wish I could own Mass Effect, I don't; Bioware does.<p>

I forgot to mention this about Shepard in the last chapter, but he's a full Paragon: saved the Rachni, spared Rex, and saved the Council; this is going to be a ShepxTali story; and since I can't decide on a single class, he's going to be all of them.

Read and review please.


	3. Chapter 2: Get the Raid Ready

I'd like to give a thanks to LivingLow for being the first person to review this story.

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><p>Chapter 2: Get the Raid Ready<p>

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><p>"Let me get this straight, Shepard. The Collector race killed you two years ago, and you're letting one of them stay with us? Can you seriously consider collecting something less dangerous?"<p>

Shepard shakes his head, "I don't like it either, Joker, but the Illusive Man claims I can trust it."

"Oh of course, the least trustworthy guy in the galaxy says that you can trust something that killed you; that's reassuring."

With a chuckle, Shepard responds, "Don't worry, Joker. The instant it does something I don't like, I'll let you handle it."

"You mean it? Because I'd definitely like some payback for what they did to my last baby."

Shepard nods and begins to walk out of the cockpit, "Oh, one more thing Shepard. Next time we reach port, pick up some Raid if they have some."

"Sure thing, Joker."

* * *

><p>The Kodiak shuttle lands as the hanger bay doors close; understandably, all the squad members as well as several crew members are aiming at the shuttle as it opens in case the Collector should prove hostile. As the Collector steps out, several people tightened their trigger fingers, Shepard himself included. The Collector, unarmed, simply looks at them impassively with the occasional clicking sound.<p>

After several moments of silence, Shepard lowers his M-96 Mattock, causing the others to lower their weapons as well.

Garrus looks at the Collector rather confused, "How come it's not saying anything?"

"Two possibilities. Either it's incapable of speech or its language isn't compatible with our translators. Will do research to see if its language can be deciphered."

Shepard nods, "Do it. EDI, any place we can keep it?"

"There is an empty room on Deck 3, it should be sufficient enough to house our rogue."

"Rogue, huh? Hmm, I don't know why, but I like the sound of that." Shepard turns to the Collector drone, "Since we shouldn't keep referring you as 'Collector' all the time, you're going to be known as Rogue from now on, understand?"

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><p>CD117649<p>

NEW DESIGNATION ACCEPTED

DESIGNATION: ROGUE

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><p>The Collector, now named Rogue, clicks as it tilts its head down slightly; although looking strange on the Collector, Shepard figured that meant 'yes'.<p>

"Good. Now follow me, Rogue. Tali, come with me. Everyone else is dismissed."

Tali nods, "Understood, Shepard."

Shepard exits the hanger with Rogue following, Tali behind them both, her new Geth Plasma Shotgun out in case something happens on the short walk, however unlikely it seems.

"EDI, do a scan to see if there's anything nearby. I think a mission's what we need to find out what the Rogue can do."

"Of course, Shepard, beginning scans now."

* * *

><p>Again, I don't own the Mass Effect franchise, Bioware does. And again, I apologize in advance if I haven't done any of the characters right.<p>

As for Shepard's class, I've decided to make him a soldier but with some the powers of the other classes, such as Charge, Tech Armor, Infiltrator Cloak, etc; but not powers such as Overload, Warp, Incinerate and Cryo Blast, for the obvious reason that they're in ammo form.

And finally, I've been considering rewriting this story when I'm finished; it'll basically be the same, only with a female Shepard, because in my mind, the only thing I like more than a heterosexual relationship with Tali is the idea of a lesbian relationship with her. Anyway, let me know what you think about that. .

Read and review please.


	4. Chapter 3: Questions

I've been thinking about ways to help improve my stories recently; and since I don't exactly have any artistic ability, I decided that my stories could use a beta reader. Don't know if that would improve them at all, but it's worth a shot. So if anybody's really interested in being a beta reader for my stories, let me know. I'd appreciate any help.

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><p>Chapter 3: Questions...<p>

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><p><strong>Dark Space<strong>

Harbinger waits patiently for the second that the Collector reestablishes connection to the main base; the Reaper knew that one drone was in the hands of Shepard thanks to its passive sensors. It didn't plan on this happening, but Harbinger wasn't going to let an opportunity to destroy an unprepared Shepard go to waste. It's a pity that it wouldn't be able to do activate the drone until that time comes, but the machine can afford the wait.

* * *

><p><strong>Joab<strong>

A batarian Blue Suns Legionnaire steps outside the compound for his smoke break; as the four eyed alien blows out a cloud of smoke, he spots something in the sky that instantly grabs his attention. As the object approaches, the mercenary recognizes it as a Kodiak shuttle; swearing, the batarian runs inside to alert his teammates as the shuttle lands just seconds later. The craft's side opens up, allowing Commander John Shepard to step out, followed by two women, Miranda and Kasumi, and the Rogue behind them.

The four step off of the landing platform just as the door to the dig site opens to allow a squad of Blue Suns Troopers led by the Legionnaire to rush out and immediately fire upon the Spectre and his squad; fortunately, their shields were able to hold long enough for them to get into cover.

"So," Kasumi started, "any ideas, Shep?"

Before the Commander could make a response, the three humans hear a distinctive buzz coming from the Rogue; they turn to face it just in time for it to fly nearly twenty feet into the air. The Blue Suns are too stunned by the sight to do anything, allowing the Rogue to take advantage of their surprise by firing its Collector assault rifle to gun down one trooper and down the shields of a second.

The Legionnaire was the first to snap out of his surprise, and the batarian immediately turns to his subordinates. "Gun the damn bug down, now!"

The remaining troopers immediately oblige, and fire at the Rogue with their Avenger rifles, forcing the Collector to take cover behind a large rock column. However, they were immediately reminded of why they were outside in the first place when Shepard kills the still unshielded trooper with a headshot from his Mattock rifle. The Legionnaire, practically fuming about the loss of two of his men, activates his omni-tool and presses one of the buttons, sending additional troops inside the signal to rush out and aid them.

Unfortunately for the Blue Suns, the instant the two additional troopers step outside, they were all blinded by a flashbang going off. As the mercenaries cry in pain from their eyes being fried, they are completely unaware that their shields have been obliterated by an overload from both Miranda and Kasumi. The troopers were quickly cut down by a particle beam and rounds from the trio of humans, leaving the Legionnaire, who managed to stay in cover long enough to regain his sight and recharge his shields, alone.

The batarian, completely furious over the utter humiliation, yells in pure rage as he aims his Vindicator at Shepard. Just before he could pull the trigger, someone taps his shoulder; turning around, he sees Kasumi standing right there with a mischievious grin on her face. "Good night."

Before the Blue Suns merc can react in anyway, the Japanese thief punches him right between his four eyes, knocking him unconscious.

"All clear, Shep."

John nods as he turns to the Rogue, "Appreciate the help with dealing with the team, Rogue. Keep it up and you'll be considered a real member of the team." The Collector, after processing what the commander said for several seconds, nods.

Shepard approaches the entrance and hovers his hand over the holographic interface before turning to glance at his squad. "Be ready, who knows what's inside…"

The two women and the Collector nod as they approach the door, weapons ready to fire in case there are any more mercs waiting inside the room. Shepard opens the door and the squad cautiously head inside.

* * *

><p>After nearly a half hour of intense combat, the squad has managed to clear out all remaining Blue Suns mercenaries. Shepard managed to discover a datapad mentioning a ship named the Strontium Mule that's going to be attacked by the Blue Suns, and plans to go there as soon as they're done with this mission. However, finding out what the Blue Suns were doing in this base came first. Since there there was only one unlocked door besides the one he came in, it shouldn't be too hard to find it.<p>

Opening the final door, the squad finds nothing in the room except for a small prothean pyramid. As Shepard approaches the computer console in front of it, he presses a few keys on the holographic keyboard and uses his arm to shield his eyes as his curiousity is rewarded with a flash of bright green light followed by an orb of orange light appearing in front of him, causing the Spectre to stumble back. As he straightens his stance, a series of images suddenly flood his mind. At first, it was the same as what the beacon back on Eden Prime gave him: prothean citizens panicking and metal being bonded to flesh. But the last image stood out from the others, and to the Commander's shock, it was a Collector drone.

The vision ended, and Shepard, who was kneeling on the ground, stands up and notices Miranda and Kasumi looking at him, worried about what happened. "I'm fine, no need to worry." The Spectre didn't see how the two responded as he looks at the prothean pyramid and then to the Rogue with confusion. He didn't know how or why, but he just knew that the Collectors were connected with the demise of the protheans. And Shepard was to find out how they were.

* * *

><p>Mass Effect © Bioware<p>

Sorry for the wait people, I was too busy with finishing my character campaigns for ME2 in preparation for ME3 and beginning last week, school. I'll try to submit the next chapter within the next few days, but I make no promises that it'd be out soon.

Anyway, read and review.


	5. Chapter 4: And Answers

Chapter 4: And Answers

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><p><strong>Unknown System<strong>

Shepard couldn't help but feel nervous as the Normandy approached the dormant Collector ship. Guess getting killed by them two years earlier doesn't exactly help rid him of that. As Shepard stares at the massive ship, he's snapped out of his trance by Joker and EDI.

"We have a visual on the Collector ship, Commander."

"Very low emissions. Passive infrared temperatures suggest most systems are offline. Thrusters are cold."

Shepard was very grateful for that news. His pilot looks at the organic-looking ship in front of them, "That thing's massive. How the hell did the turians take it out?"

'How indeed,' the commander thought as the Normandy approaches the much larger ship.

"Ladar scans do not detect any hull breaches on the side facing us. I detect no mass effect field distortions. It appears the drive core is offline."

More good news, if not slightly suspicious…

"Rendezvous in 30 seconds, Commander. Good luck."

Shepard makes no reply as he heads towards the hanger deck. As the Normandy circles around the Collector ship, the hanger bay doors open and the Kodiak shuttle slowly flies out into a section of the ship that opens up as it nears.

* * *

><p><strong>Unknown System<strong>

**Inside the Collector Ship**

The shuttle lands softly and the side doors open up, allowing Commander Shepard to step out. Accompanying him is Mordin, as he can analyze any data and technology they encounter for their visit, Grunt, who can provide extra firepower in case this ship's not as quiet as people say it is, and Rogue, whose previous service aboard these ships would help out a lot.

The scientist and the tank-born both look around the passage way the group is in. The krogan was the first one to say something about their current surroundings, "Never seen a ship like this before."

If the circumstances were different, Shepard would've chuckled Grunt's comment, "No one has, Grunt."

"Unusual ship design. Hard to track lines, angles. Disturbing. Yet somewhat resembles an insect hive."

Before anyone could reply to the salarian, EDI contacts the four through their comm. link, _"Penetrating scans have detected an access node uplink with Collector databanks. Shepard, I have compared the ship's signature to known Collector profiles. It is the vessel you encountered on Horizon."_

The same ship that they had to deal with to save Horizon? That was rather suspicious, "Maybe the defense towers softened it for the turians."

"Maybe the missing humans are on it. Unless they're dead."

"Let's hope that's not the case, Grunt."

* * *

><p>After the squad moved past a disturbingly large pile of deceased humans, they managed to find the databank in question. The commander activates his omni-tool to scan the terminal while Grunt and the Rogue both look at the dead Collector inside a nearby pod.<p>

"What, the Collectors carved one of their own?"

Shepard doesn't answer the young krogan as he activates his helmet radio, "EDI, I'm uploading the data from this terminal. See if you can figure out what they were up to."

_"Data received. Analyzing. The Collectors were running baseline genetic comparisons between their species and humanity."_

Shepard approaches the pod to look at the corpse inside, "Are they looking for similarities?"

_"I have no hypothesis on their motivations. All I have are the preliminary results. They reveal something remarkable. A quad-strand genetic structure, identical to traces collected from ancient ruins. Only one race is known to have this structure: the Protheans."_

The Spectre looks at Rogue in shock and horror, "My god. The Protheans didn't vanish. They're just working for the Reapers now."

_"These are no longer Protheans. Their genes show distinct signs of extensive genetic rewrite. The Reapers have repurposed them to suit their needs."_

Mordin, who has also been listening to the conversation between the commander and their AI, also looks at Rogue with surprise. Grunt, of course, didn't exactly understand all the sciency words, nor did he really care.

"The Reapers didn't wipe out the Protheans. They turned them into monsters and enslaved them. Still, they're working for the Reapers now. And we have to stop them. Let's find what we need before the Collectors come to salvage this vessel. Move out."

The four didn't even move three steps before they stopped before a pile of weapons. Kneeling down to inspect them, Shepard didn't find anything exactly worth of interest except for the three weapons at the top: an M-76 Revenant light machine gun, an M-98 Widow anti-material rifle, and last but not least, an M-300 Claymore heavy shotgun, all modified for human use. "Now what do we have here?"

With a grin, Commander Shepard grabs the three weapons like he was a kid on Christmas morning.

* * *

><p><em>"Commander. You gotta hear this. On a hunch, I asked EDI to run an analysis on this ship."<em>

_"I compared the EM profile against data recorded by the original Normandy two years ago. They are an exact match."_

Shepard frowns, "The same ship dogging me for two years? Way beyond coincidence."

_"Something doesn't add up, Commander. Watch your back."_

Although the pilot couldn't see him, the commander nods anyway, "Don't worry Joker, I'm not going to let the Collectors kill me a second time."

As the four continued to ascend the ramp, they eventually made it to the next chamber. "That's…big."

"Understatement of the century, Grunt."

The commander looks around with a feeling of dread, not only were millions, possibly billions of pods scattered along the wall, he couldn't even see the ends of the chamber. Mordin was able to reach the same conclusion that Shepard came to. "So many pods. Could depopulate all Terminus Systems, still wouldn't fill them. Only one conclusion. Collectors targeting Earth."

After a moment of staring at the walls of the massive chamber, Shepard clenches his fists in anger. He knew that the Collectors were a threat to humanity, but seeing this room made him see that not only the colonies were in danger, the humanity's very home wasn't even safe.

"Not if we stop them. Rogue, can you find a control panel so we can connect EDI to this ship?"

The fallen Prothean gives no response to the Commander's request, instead it looks around the cavernous room for a path to the nearest terminal. There were dozens of path for it to choose from, but the path that it settled on was the path to the far right, where the computer was conveniently less than one hundred feet away. The Collector starts walking off in that direction with the other three following not far behind; it took less than a minute for them to find the terminal, but the level of uneasiness rose with each passing second. They've been on this ship for nearly ten minutes and they haven't encountered a single Collector, dead or otherwise.

"Should be dead Collectors. Something's…wrong."

Shepard couldn't agree with Grunt more, yet has no choice to do anything other than activate the terminal.

"EDI? I'm setting up a bridge between you and the Collector ship. See if you can get anything useful from the data banks."

* * *

><p>Back aboard the Normandy's cockpit, several screens materialize in front of Joker and walls of data start streaming down the screens.<p>

"Data-mine in progress, Shepard."

Without warning, the walls of data burst into static, and as Joker looks at the screens with confusion, he notices something to his left. Instead of the blue, spherical hologram that EDI uses, he finds the blood-red form of the Collector General glaring right at him before flickering out of existence.

"Uh… that can't be good."

* * *

><p>Back aboard the Collector ship, the terminal releases a blinding flash of light while several glass tubes surrounding them click as mechanisms inside activate. Although Shepard is curious as to what was happening, he decided it wasn't important as he brings his hand up to his helmet radio.<p>

"Everyone's all right, Joker. What just happened?"

_"Major power surge. Everything went dark, but we're back up now."_

"I managed to divert the majority of the overload to non-critical systems," Grunt turns his head as he notices movement behind and above the group, "Shepard, it was not a malfunction. This was a trap."

'Shit….'

Seconds after EDI finished her sentence, the ground trembles as it starts to rise, spinning slowly as it does; the motion of the platform is causing the squad to have trouble with just standing, with the exception of Rogue.

"We need a little help here, EDI."

_"I am having trouble maintaining connection. There is someone else in the system."_

The platform suddenly stops several dozen meters above the ground, causing Shepard and Mordin to stagger forward and Grunt to humorously fall onto his back. As Mordin helps the super krogan back onto his feet, the Commander notices several platforms floating towards the one that the squad's standing on.

"We got company, get ready."

The four draw their weapons and get into cover; as the closest platform flies closer, Shepard leans over the short barrier and peers through the scope at one of the Collector drones and fires. He was more than surprised, the Commander heard stories about the rifle's power but he was still surprised when the drone's entire head blows apart. Of course he didn't have the chance to think about it further as he ducks back into cover when several assault rifle shots strike his shield.

_"Connection reestablished. I need to finish the download before I can override any systems."_

"Then you'd better get it done fast, EDI."

The two platforms dock with the one that the squad's on, prompting Shepard to peek over to see their opposition; the one closest had ten Collector soldiers that were still alive, while the one farther back had, to his disappointment, a single Scion. He was going to have to take that out first…

"Grunt, distract the husk while I get in close to take it out; Mordin, Rogue, deal with the Collectors."

With multiple affirmatives, Grunt leaps over their cover firing upon the Scion with his Mattock rifle. The cybernetic abomination moans in annoyance as multiple inferno rounds strike its grotesque hide and fires its shockwave cannon in response; Grunt fires a few more shots before rolling out of the way. The Collectors take this opportunity to fire upon the krogan, but only let off a few more shots before one of them was incinerated by Mordin while another was gunned down by Rogue. The remaining Collectors, four standard drones, two guardians and two assassins, duck into cover to engage the salarian and the traitor.

With the Collectors distracted, Shepard draws his Claymore shotgun and surrounds himself in a biotic aura before hurtling himself straight at the Scion. The sheer force of the impact causes the monster to stagger back, and before it could retaliate, was torn in half with a single blast from Shepard's shotgun. Unfortunately for the Spectre and his squad, before they could finish off the remaining Collectors, two additional platforms dock with the ones that they're on, adding another Collector squad and an additional Scion for them to deal with.

Upon seeing this, Shepard curses to himself, "Why must things always get worse when they start to go my way?" Seeing that Mordin and Rogue were having a bit of trouble with the first squad, the commander turns to Grunt.

"Grunt, go and help Mordin and Rogue out, I'll be able to handle this."

Although the super krogan looks like he was going to argue, Grunt simply nods and heads back to the other two. Shepard reloads his Claymore and charges the Scion, unaware that one of the Collectors is starting to stagger…

* * *

><p>The addition of Grunt made Mordin and Rogue's battle against the first Collector squad improved slightly now that the Collectors were no longer able to concentrate their fire in just one direction, already over half of their number has fallen to the squad's fire.<p>

"**We are assuming control."**

The reprogrammed Collector stopped and turned towards the source where the second Collector squad was to see one of the skin of one of the Collectors cracked open and glowing to give it a fiery magma-like appearance. Its former master, Harbinger itself, has joined the firefight and is slowly approaching Shepard from behind, too distracted from fighting the Scion to notice. The Collector looks at its allies to see if they noticed, but the krogan and the salarian were too busy fighting the others to have noticed what's happening; it was going to need to do something to ensure the commander's survival.

Throwing caution to the wind, not that it really had any in the first place, Rogue opens its wings and flies off above the hovering platforms before firing its assault rifle down at Harbinger below.

The possessed Collector, who had its attack interrupted, looks up to see Rogue defiantly firing upon its master. Although the vessel was unable to express emotion, one could tell that it was glaring at Rogue with seething rage; outstretching its arm, Rogue was enveloped by a biotic field, although instead of the usual dark purple the field was a fiery orange, before being yanked down until it finds itself inches away from the puppet's face, and was met with a glare that seemed to peer into one's soul.

"**Collector.**_** Traitor."**_ Harbinger's last word was practically oozing with hatred. **"I have no use for tools who would dare betray its master. I'll take pleasure in exterminating you myself."**

An orb of biotic flames begins to form in Harbinger's hand, ready to destroy Rogue in one strike; it was all an act though, Harbinger still had use for the one Collector in its grasp. It just had to look real, as the machine just had to convince its real target, Commander Shepard himself, that its captive is a traitor and will be killed just like all others who even attempt to oppose its kind.

The ploy worked as a single sniper shot blow the puppet's head off, the body disintegrating to ash. Rogue, who dropped onto the floor when it was released from Harbinger's grasp, looks up to see Shepard reload his Widow and before helping Rogue onto its feet.

"You okay, Rogue?" The Collector merely nods. "Good, let's finish this."

Rogue nods again before reloading its assault rifle and joining Shepard to take out the remaining Collectors.

* * *

><p>It's been nearly ten minutes since the squad had finished their fight on the platforms, and yet they still haven't reached the halfway point to the Kodiak shuttle. The ship is powering up and if they didn't hurry the Collector cruiser would destroy the second Normandy, but they couldn't just run to the shuttle or they would be gunned down by the crew. Luckily, this was a large ship, and therefore needed time to power up completely.<p>

The just defeated several Collectors, Husks and a Praetorian and were on their way to proceed through the door, only to have it close on them. After momentarily cursing to himself, Shepard contacts his ship.

"EDI? We've got a problem here."

_"A temporary setback on Firewall 3217. Rerouting commands through Firewall 7164. I am encountering an unusual amount of resistance; it will take a few minutes for me to get it open."_

Shepard curses to himself, they didn't have time to wait a few minutes; the ship could be destroyed by that amount of time for all he knew. But before he could voice a complaint and urge EDI to hurry up, the squad hears the distinct buzzing noise that they heard many times before. Looking above them, they see a lone Collector flying into the cavernous room. Before they could raise their weapons at the Collector, a biotic glow surrounds it; to Shepard, it looked strangely familiar, it almost looks like a – Shepard's eyes widen with shock as he realizes what it's doing.

"Everybody move, now!"

Not questioning as to why, the squad immediately jumps to the side just as the Collector plummets towards the four like a meteor.

* * *

><p>Well, there we go, new chapter's up. I would've completed the Collector ship mission, but I wouldn't want to keep the readers waiting.<p>

Or at least I think the readers wouldn't want to wait any longer cause I didn't get a single review for the last chapter. I need reviews to see if I'm doing this right, and I need a beta reader because that may help me improve the quality of my stories.

But back to the story, I felt that in order to counter the fact that I practically gave Shepard access to all weapons and powers of ME2 and a Collector ally, I've invented several new Collectors and some new Husk forms; however, I need more, so if you can think of a new Collector and/or Husk, please put it in the reviews and I'll credit you when I add it into the story.


	6. Enter the King Preview

I know that the you, the people who actually bothered with reading my stories, were waiting for the next chapter in Mass Effect: The Rogue. I apologize, but you will have to wait a little longer. Instead, I'm giving you guys a sneak peek at my upcoming new story _Enter the King_. Enjoy.

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><p>The elevator door to the crew quarters opens up to let out a young, fairly attractive woman with shoulder length blonde hair and brilliant blue eyes. The woman is Commander Jessica Shepard, and she's down here to check up on the newest member of the ship. Although Jessica didn't have to check up on her shipmates, she felt it was her duty to get to know them and see if they were happy aboard her ship.<p>

Besides, this was a member to an entirely new species, so Jessica can't help but be curious about meeting him for an extended conversation. And that's why she was on deck three, being an entirely new species, both Chakwas and Mordin had to see him first; Chakwas so that she can get medical data and Mordin…Jessica just didn't want to know what Mordin wanted from him.

As the commander headed to the medical bay, she took a quick glance at the Cerberus insignia painted on the wall and sighed in disgust at the thought of working with the terrorist organization that sent her entire squad to be eaten by Thresher Maws. As soon as Jessica's done with stopping the Collectors, she's burning the Cerberus uniform, repainting the entire ship, and if those two Cerberus operatives that she met at the start of all this gave her too much trouble, either turn them in to the Systems Alliance authorities, drop them off at Omega without their weapons, bio-amps, and omni-tools, or just simply space them. Jessica will just have to wait and see about that.

As Jessica continued past the wretched insignia, she encountered Dr. Chakwas and Mordin standing outside the medical bay conversing with each other. Upon noticing her approach, the two turn to face the commander.

"Doctor Chakwas, Mordin, what can you tell me about our newest crew member?"

Mordin was the first to speak, "Not much, as emitted radiation's interfering with medical scans."

Jessica finds herself surprised at that revelation. "Radiation? How dangerous is it?"

The salarian shook his head, "Radiation at non-lethal levels. Still recommend taking radiation pills after prolonged close proximity with him."

Dr. Chakwas spoke this time, "Since we weren't able to scan the ship's newest member, we decided to inject him with nanobots to provide detailed information about him and the rest of the species. Easier said than done of course, as most of the needles we used broke against his skin; I swear that his skin's strong enough to withstand several pistol rounds."

"How were you able to get the nanobots in him then?"

"We were able to find a relatively soft spot in the underarm; of course it still took our thickest needle to actually pierce it."

Jessica sighs, the woman already guessing what the medical officer was going to, "I'll get some new medical supplies next time we dock. What were the nanobots able to find out?"

"You mean before the radiation overwhelmed them? Quite a bit actually, from nearly unbreakable bones to a regenerative ability that could rival that of a vorcha. And what's probably the surprising of all is the fact that he's a living nuclear reactor."

Mordin shakes his head in disagreement with that last sentence. "No, subject stated that he's able to control nuclear energy for offensive purposes. Described himself as living weapon of mass destruction. He was right; his very existence is a violation to Citadel laws."

Jessica, although very surprised about this information, was able to keep it to herself.

"I'd like to speak with him now, if that's alright with you."

The medical officer and the scientist both nod and allow Jessica to enter the medical bay. The Commander was able to immediately spot the person she was seeking. The newest crewmember was seven feet tall, taller than even Grunt, and looked just as much as a fighter as the tank born krogan is. He possesses a reptilian appearance with charcoal grey skin, but his two most notable traits is the long tail, which no other sentient race has¸ and three rows of white, maple leaf shaped spines going down his back, the largest located just below the shoulders at just over two feet long.

The Normandy's newest crewmember, who was just about to put his armor on, had turned to face Jessica the instant he heard the doors open. Looking into each other's eyes for a brief instant, Jessica could almost feel the immense power emanating from him. In an attempt to break the silence, Commander Jessica Shepard decided to speak first.

"So, how do you like the new ship?"

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><p>There we go, the preview <em>Enter the King<em>. I'm sure that you people can guess who the newest crewmember is going to be. I will attempt to bring the first chapter to that and the next chapter to The Rogue up soon. Read and review so I can know what you guys think of it.


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